Shadows
by RyukoVulpix
Summary: Under the cover of the nighttime sky, Roxas and Naminé debate... what does it mean to be a Nobody?


"You don't really love me, do you, Naminé?"

"What?" Naminé laughed as she turned to face her companion. The two of them were sitting on the beach, enjoying the peace of the sea and the stars. "What do you mean, I don't love you? Of course I do. You know that, Roxas."

Roxas did not answer. Instead, he gazed out over the dark ocean, toward a mysterious somewhere. Naminé wondered what he could be looking at. Perhaps the town in which he had first appeared and had considered his home for so long, Twilight Town. Or maybe the world where they, as Nobodies, had once belonged—the World that Never Was. Naminé shuddered. The memory of that place, with its white cliffs and foreboding towers, its emptiness and solitude… she wanted to never have to see it again. It was a place of empty souls, existence without really existing. A sad place.

Like the regular beating of a heart, the ocean waves sang as they lapped up against the shallow beach, reaching playfully for Naminé's toes before they pulled back into the shimmering depths. The girl smiled and drew her knees up to her chest. Roxas took in a deep breath. Naminé glanced at him.

"Why…" Roxas murmured, "is it that we can only come out when they're asleep?"

Naminé thought about it for a moment. "I suppose… that's just how things are. It's not like we're separate from them during the day. We can't just show up whenever and wherever we feel like it. It just doesn't work."

"So, that's it?"

"… what do you mean?" Naminé had caught the sense of bitterness in Roxas's tone. Bitterness for what? They were alive, they had hearts, they were whole. They lived in paradise, seeing each other every day, meeting so many new people. The sun, the sky, the earth and ocean—they were all beautiful beyond anything she could have ever imagined, back in that white room.

And of course, Roxas was here with her.

What was there to be bitter about?

"That's it?" Roxas repeated. "That's the answer? We come out at night so that it's convenient for them?"

"No, that's not it, not at all," said Naminé. "We _are_ them. They're us. We have to be together in order to be whole."

A long silence took hold. Naminé could see in Roxas's eyes words that wanted to be said, but couldn't. Words that she knew would only hurt them both. Words that, now that he had a complete heart, Roxas couldn't bring himself to say.

Finally, the boy opened his mouth and, with a short sigh, whispered, "Have you ever thought about what we really are?"

"We're alive," Naminé said softly, quickly.

"We're shadows."

"We're whole."

"We're illusions."

"We exist."

"We _don't_ exist," Roxas said. Even though he said it quietly, Naminé could hear the pain beneath his words. "We don't exist. I mean, it's not the same 'nonexistence' that a Nobody has, but still, we're not really here." Roxas's eyes turned to the black sky, as if he were addressing somebody there. "Remember when you asked me, 'Don't you want to know the truth about who you really are?'" Naminé nodded. "Well, I have the answer for that now… I already know who I am, and I really wish I didn't."

"Roxas…"

"I'm Sora."

"Roxas!" Naminé said, surprise and worry mixing in her heart. Surprise, because Roxas had told her how he and Sora both disliked getting mixed up with each other. Worry, for the same reason.

"I'm him, he's me. That's the nature of a Somebody and a Nobody, right? I'm Sora.

"And that's why you don't love me."

"_Roxas!_ How could you say that?"

"You don't love me!" Roxas tore his eyes from the stars and stared straight at Naminé. They were wet.

"You love… Sora…"

Naminé was stunned. Speechless. How could—how could Roxas—how could _anybody_—even _think_ of—

Once. Yes. Once, a long time ago, she had—

"No! Roxas, no, Roxas…!" She had her hands on his shoulders, shaking him, shaking herself, feeling underneath her soft hands the rigid muscles and bones of the boy who was sitting before her. Staring up into his deep, blue eyes, she knew more than ever before that he was the only one for her, the only person who made her so happy. There could be no one else.

So to be accused of—

"Roxas," she whispered, a sudden weakness coming into her arms and hands, causing them to fall limply into his, "please. Don't say things like that… It's not true. Not at all."

Roxas's eyes softened. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just… I'm just tired of being…"

Naminé placed her fingers over his mouth. "You don't have to say it. I don't want you to say it, if it's going to hurt you."

The two sat there, silent, unmoving. The stars twinkled overhead, and the tide slowly began to run out, pulling away from their feet. Finally, Roxas gently removed Naminé's hand from his face.

"I don't think saying it would hurt me any more than I'm hurting now," he whispered.

Naminé shook her head and squeezed Roxas's hands tightly. "Then I don't want to hear it."

A glint of light ran over the water, brighter than any of the nighttime stars. The two on the beach turned to look at it, knowing what the light of daybreak brought for them.

"See that?" Roxas murmured. "As soon as the sun rises, all of the stars go away…"

"Time to go home," Naminé replied in her usual cheerful, gentle tone. But she was quieter than usual.

Roxas helped Naminé to her feet. Together, they turned to watch the brightening horizon.

But inside their minds and hearts, everything was still dark.

* * *

The two of them were sitting on the beach, enjoying the peace of the sea and the sky. Like the regular beating of a heart, the ocean waves sang as they lapped up against the shallow beach, reaching playfully for her toes before they pulled back into the shimmering depths. The girl smiled and drew her knees up to her chest. The boy took in a deep breath. She glanced at him.

"What's on your mind, Sora?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing," he replied, gazing out toward the ocean. Kairi shot him a knowing look, and he flinched.

"I know you better than that," said Kairi. "Don't think you can hide it from me."

"… yeah, I know," he muttered, staring down at the sand stuck to his bare feet.

The ocean danced and sparkled blue in the sunlight. In the distance, great rolling waves could be seen, although only their faintest remnants ever approached the shore. Kairi brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"Kairi?"

"Yeah, Sora?"

"I wish…" His voice trailed off.

Kairi smiled sadly. She knew what he wished. She also knew that saying that wish aloud could only bring hurt to everyone involved.

"Sora?"

"I love you, Kairi. More than anybody else in all the worlds. You know that, right?"

"I know. I love you, too. And, Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"… you don't have to say it. I mean, what Roxas—"

"I know." Sora put a hand to his forehead. "I know."

'_I just …_

'… _I wish we didn't have to be shadows anymore…'_


End file.
